Jacques andrfi



(N0 Model.)

J. ANDRE.

AUTOGRAPHIG TELEGRAPE No. 251,684. Patented 1360.211881.

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JACQUES ANDR, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

AUTOGRAPH IC TELEGRAPH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 251,684, dated December 27, 1881-` Application filed January 11l 1881. (No model.) Patented in France November 6, 1880, and December 13, 1880, in Belgium December 14, 1880, and in Austria-Hungary March 25, 1881.

To all whom` 'it may conccrn Be it known that I, JACQUES ANDR, of Paris, in the Republic of France, have invented a certain Improvement in Means for thel Transmission ot' Electric Currents, of which thefollowing is a specification, reference bcing hadto the accompanying drawings.

This invention is capable ot' numerous practical applications, among which I will mention particularly electric telegraphy; but it is also applicable in all the conditions in which it will operate to reproduce instantaneously, at any distance upon `paper or other material, written texts, signs,drawin gs, nmsicalnotations,or an y outlines. These reproductions may be made of equal dimensions, reduced or enlarged.

In earryingont. my invention Iemploy aba-nd, ofV any width and length, of a mixed tissue or woven fabric the warp ot' which consists of any number of metallic conducting-wires, in-

sulated electrically from one another by means of a weft of librous material. Such a band has before been used, and I do not therefore claim it as of'my invention. rlhe electrical insulation of this tissue conductor is completed by a coating of suitable material, depending on the nature of the applications which are made of the invention.

The number, the thickness, and the spacing of the wires ofthe tissue conductor should vary naturally, according to the results to be ob tained andthe dimensions of the surface which t. it is wished to reproduce.

For electric telegraphy at great distances I employ in the composition ot' the tissue conductor wires ot' which the aggregate presents a sufficient section not to ofter too great a resistancc to the passage of the current. When it is necessary to make use of a great number of wires a tissue might be required of a width so considerable as to present several practical inconveniences. To obviate these I arrange the tissue in handsot' appropriate width, which I superpose in suitable number.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a vertical section of a machine or apparatus embodying my invention, and Fig. 2 represents a plan ot' a cominutator which receives the ends of two sections of the tissue or band conductors at an intermediate station in the line.

Similar letters of reference designate corresponding parts in both figures.

The band of conducting-tissue extends from one extremity of theline to the other. Itis cnt at each intermediate station in such manner that the sections or portions A B communicate respectively with the neighboring stations, as will presently be seen. The extremities ot' the wires of the tissue conductor are to be connected with transmission-rubbers, composed of a tissue like that of the conductors but preferably madc with ner wires, of which each corresponds with a wire ot the tissue conductor. This connection is not, however, made directly, but through the medium of a commutator, which may be a kind ot' comb, as hereinafter described, and to which the said rubbers are attached.

To give stiffness to the tissue forming the rubbers, it may be coated with an insulating substance, such as wax.

As I have just mentioned, the rubbers are attached to the commutator, and against this the ends of the sections ofthe tissue conductor are arranged to abut. This commutator ot' comb-like form is made of a plate ot' non-con ducting material having a number of slits, which produce as many divisions. or teeth as there are wires in the tissue conductor.` It results from this arrangement that in each division or tooth of the comb there are two Wires, one in front of the other, belonging to two neighboring sections, A B, of the tissue conductor, and communicating respectively with the two neighboring posts ot' the intermediate station. It will be seen, then, that. it is suicient to bring together and put in contact the wires of the two portions of theline to establish whatis known in telegraphy as the direct communication-that is to say, to put in direct communication the two parts in question without the dispatches being stopped at the intermediate station.

The comb may be placed, as represented in the accompanying drawings, upon a table, a., and to facilitate the operations which I am about to describe the extremities b o of the sections A B of the tissue conductor, which abut against the comb d, are taken cach between two small boards, e f or g it, which hold them.

The boards ef and g h may be moved toward ssy Ico

and from cach other by means of screws a', as seen in Fig. 1. By bringing these boards together the contact is established rbetween the wires; on the contrary by separating them the extremities ofcach ofthe wires are putin contact with a metallic clasp or contact-piece, j,with which the bottom of the slit ofthe comb is furnished, and to which isattached one of the wires of the tissue which constitutes the rubber. The extremities of each rubber 7c are taken between two insulating-plates, ll, of glass, for example, held by any suitable means, and allowing the protrusion of the ends of the wires beyond them to a suii'icient length to leave them the desiredleXibility-aboutonecentimeter. These plates l Z are carried by a support, m, which permits them to have given to them the desired inclination and regulate the pressure with which they impinge the surface of contact n.

The transmission is made directly by the extremities of the rubber '7c without the aid of any intermediate device, as will be presently explained. For this purpose there may be used an original prepared by any of the means now in use for electro-autography. In other words, I can reproduce by my invention any original constituted by any surface whateverpresenting alternations ot' conductibility and of nonconductibility-forexample,typographie characters, perforated paper, &c. I can also use the ordinary method of removing from a metal plate portions of a coating of insulating matter with which the surface of the plate has been covered. f1 however prefer to write or trace 011 a clean metal plate with a pen charged with colored resinous ink,with a colored alcohol varnish, or with any other convenient protecting material, and afterward to oxidize the said plate by any suitable reagent-for example, it' it be ot' zinc, by means of nitro-sulphate of copper. I then dissolve away the ink by means of any suitable solvent, (soda in case of alcoholic or resinous varnish, &c.,) and the metal is then found bright over the whole eX- tent of the writing or tracing. The width of the original is preferably the same as that of the rubber 7c. To transmit this original it is made to pass under the extremities of the rubber 7c at the transmitting-station. At the same time there is caused to pass under the rubber of the receiving-station a receiving-surface consisting of sheets or a band of paper or cloth, or other material coated with a suitable matter decomposable by the action of electricity, upon which the original is exactly reproduced by the action of the electric currents.

I prefer to use for the telegraphic reception continuous bands o, prepared with a suitable chemical, passing over a metallic cylinder, n, ordinarily of iron, having imparted to it a rotary lnotion, of which the speed may be regulated by a rotary flier formed by a disk, p, capable of a variable inclination. This disk,ar ticulated upon a vertical arbor, q, which, with the cylinder oz, is driven by any clock-movement, has attached to its periphery one end of ordinary train of clock-work, which is notvhere represented, as it forms no part of my invention, and the clock-work transmitsmotion to the vertical arbor q of the ther th rough a wheel, x, which engages with a worm or screw on said arbor, as clearly seen.

One of the poles ofthe battery T is in com-v munication with the ground, while the other communicates by a wire, u, with the receivingcylinder n. The communication with the line is made by the rubber 7c, then by one of the sections of the tissue conductor A or B, according as the dispatches are received from one side or the other. The figure or tracing being always made by the positive pole, it will be seen that I can receive either under or above the band o by inverting the poles. Inthe first case the points of the rubber 7c trace directly.

In the second case the tracingor tigureis made by the metal of the cylinder fn, on which is applied thereceiving-band o. Thecurrent, passing then from the metal n to the points of the rnbber k, diffuses itself sufliciently and according to the thickness of the receiving-band o. This second disposition is preferable, and the cylinder should be kept dry and clean. For this purpose it Works against two pads, o, of wick, very slightly greased and held by spring-snpports, to which are applied screws to produce' a regulated pressure. Moreover, under the cylinder is a vessel, w, containing materials necessary for producing a permanent disengagement of hydrogen.

The moistening of the receiving-band o may be made either by preliminary soaking or by a special moistenin g operation d uring the reception.

What I claim as my invention is- The combination, in an electro-autographic telegraph apparatus, of the two bands A B, of fabric the warp of which is composed of conducting-wires, the slotted or comb-like cornmntator-body which receives the ends of said conducting-wires, the contact-pieces secured in the slots of said commutator-body, the rubbers k, comprising wires connected with the several contact-pieces, and the rotating cylinder u, substantially as specified.

This specification signed this 11th day of December, 1880. i

JACQUES AND R.

Vitnesses LoUis GENs, AUG. PARIso'r. 

